Joe Arpaio aide investigation finished by Babeu

by JJ Hensley - Apr. 14, 2011 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

A long-awaited investigation into three of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's top commanders is complete, but the wait will continue before the public learns the professional fate of Chief Deputy David Hendershott, Deputy Chief Larry Black and Capt. Joel Fox.

Arpaio and his advisers, after waiting six months for the investigation to be complete, said they will not release anything from the report until they have taken steps to review the material and allowed the accused commanders to exhaust their rights as public employees.

Few in the Sheriff's Office expect the trio to return to work. If those expectations hold true, it would mark the end of Hendershott's long and controversial career as an administrator in county government.

If Arpaio defies expectations and returns any of the three to their jobs, it could lead to upheaval. Several high-ranking sheriff's deputies and commanders have threatened to leave the agency if the three are reinstated.

Arpaio and his advisers will read through the 1,022-page report, allow the three accused to review its findings, and offer them a chance to answer the allegations before announcing whether Hendershott, Black and Fox are fired, suspended or reinstated to their administrative jobs in the Sheriff's Office.

Their careers came under scrutiny on the heels of a scathing 63-page memo written by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell and delivered in October. The memo included detailed allegations against Hendershott of mismanagement and misconduct. It painted Black and Fox as Hendershott allies who benefited from a double standard of discipline and oversight.

Munnell included details of a political-action committee the three allegedly operated to support Arpaio, accusing them of behavior ranging from inappropriate to criminal. He described Hendershott as a bully who retaliated against subordinates who questioned him, and who browbeat others into refusing to cooperate with investigations into the Sheriff's Office.

Munnell's memo alleged that Hendershott pressured subordinates on a corruption task force to write a questionable search warrant, then threatened to "machine gun" them if they refused.

The investigation is internal - not criminal - and if charges are warranted, a separate agency would have to conduct the criminal probe.

Hendershott, Black and Fox have been on administrative leave since after the memo was made public. Arpaio turned the internal investigation over to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who hired a Phoenix private investigator.

Critics at the time, including Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, questioned whether Babeu would "whitewash" the investigation to protect Arpaio, widely considered a Babeu political ally.

After the investigation produced a 1,000-page report and thousands of pages of supporting documents, Wilcox was among county officials who on Wednesday called for Arpaio to share the content of the report with the Board of Supervisors, the county's five-member governing board.

As of February, Maricopa County had been billed $46,000 for investigative costs by Pinal County.

"We're paying for it, and we are the fiscal agents for the county, and so we should be allowed to read it now," Wilcox said. "There may be criminal actions, and if there are, that could mean ramifications for the county - lawsuits, criminal charges, who knows? And since we are the ones who may have to settle those things, we should be made aware as soon as possible. The more information we have, the better."

Babeu, his investigators and members of Arpaio's office were put on notice Wednesday that sharing content from the reports could violate state and federal law and the accused commanders' right